South Carolina (4-3) vs. Ole Miss (5-3) Game Preview

One Reason Why South Carolina Will Win

The Ole Miss defense continues to be a problem, but the offense isn’t doing its part to keep up the pace.

The D has been balanced-bad, allowing over 200 yards rushing and 200 yards passing in four of the last seven games. The Rebels are last in the SEC in run defense, and second-to-last against the pass.

South Carolina hasn’t been explosive enough, but it’s been able to pass well enough to get by in key parts, and it’s great when it hits the 200-yard mark.

The Gamecocks are 3-0 this season when running for 200 yards after hitting the two-bill mark just once in 2015 and 2016. Ole Miss has given up 269 rushing yards or more in three of the last four games.

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One Reason Why Ole Miss Will Win

The passing game keeps on chugging along.

The offense isn’t always putting points on the board, but Jordan Ta’amu and the air show puts pressure on defenses week after week. He had problems against LSU and Alabama. Against everyone else, he’s a 300-yard machine hanging up 324 yards or more in every game but the two against the stars of the West.

So far this season, Ole Miss is 5-0 when Ta’amu throws for 330 yards or more, and 0-3 when he goes under.

South Carolina’s secondary has only allowed more than 300 yards once – giving up 353 in the loss to Texas A&M – but it caught a break playing Drew Lock and Missouri in bad weather, and got picked apart by Jake Fromm in the blowout loss to Georgia.

The bigger issue for USC is its turnover issue. It doesn’t give them up all that often, but the defense doesn’t take them away. The Gamecocks have just seven takeaways on the year, and none in the last two games. They’re going to need a few to slow down the machine.